Fire Souls Ice Hearts
by Blayde.exe
Summary: Keller is pretty much your average girl, well if you consider being a two time skateboarding champion and the brilliant daughter of world renowned scientist Dr. James Locklear normal. Yeah...normal. Until she and her Navi run into some trouble with a Darkloid. What they discover is something that will turn their world upside down.
1. Upgrades and Denigration

"Mom! We're home!" Keller called as she shoved her brother through the door. He glared at her, she rolled her eyes and shut the door taking her shoes off as she did so.

"I'm in the living room sweetie." Her mother called.

"I'll be in my room! TeraGuy and I are gonna NetBattle at the Coliseum!" John, Keller's little brother called as he dashed up the stairs.

"I still don't get why dad gave him a Navi first." Keller sighed, watching her ten year old brother run up the stairs, talking to his Navi excitedly.

"Your dad and I had a lot harder of a time building you a Navi. We want yours to be just how you imagine it." Her mother replied as she waddled into the foyer and beckoned her daughter to join her in the living room.

"You're watching the Vampire Diaries, this early?" Keller asked as she dropped her bag beside the couch. Her mother nodded.

"I thought you were going to spend the afternoon at the arcade with Kyra, what happened?" Her mom asked as she handed her daughter a cup of tea.

"I was going to until Daniel showed up and started flirting with me…again. So we decided to hang out later so we wouldn't have him distracting us from our training." Keller sighed as she took a sip of her tea.

"Daniel's such a nice boy, I don't see why you don't give him a chance."

"That's the problem mom, he's too sweet. He treats me like I'm made of glass." Keller said in disgust, "But I don't want to talk about him. Tell me what's going on in The Vampire Diaries."

Keller and her mother spent two hours talking about the show and a good portion of the rest of their time talking about the weird things that had been going on in the city. Then out of nowhere her mother brought up Daniel.

"I don't understand why you won't give him a chance." Her mother said as she took a sip of tea.

"He's nice, but he tends to flirt with every girl in sight, and you know dad doesn't like him either." Keller added as she pulled her hair back.

"Speaking of your father, he sent you something. He told me to make sure you got it as soon as you got home." Her mother said as she got up and went to the kitchen.

"What is it?" Keller asked burning with curiosity.

"This." Her mother said as she tossed an envelope to her daughter.

"Snail mail? Are you serious? Couldn't just send me a zip file or something?" Keller asked as she took the envelope and tore it open.

"Well? What is it?" Her mother asked as she went to get more tea.

"It's a custom burned disc, directly from IconLabs." Keller said excitedly.

"Is there a note or anything else with it?" Her mother called from the kitchen.

"No, it's just the disc." Keller said staring at it with curiosity.

"Why don't you go open it and see what it is?"

"But, I'll miss The Vampire Diaries!" Keller whined.

"I'll pause it until you get back, just go see what it is." Her mother laughed.

"Aye, aye. Captain!" Keller laughed as she got up and picked up her bag. "I'll be back in a flash!" She called over her shoulder as she ran up the stairs.

As soon as Keller reached the top of the stairs she ran down the hall to her room. She was so impatient to see what her dad had sent her that she forgot to open her door and ran straight into it. There was a thunk followed by a muffled curse as she landed on her butt with a huff, her face red with embarrassment. Quickly she got up and scrambled to look over the balcony. Good. Mom didn't see or hear that. She thought as she opened her door.

She dropped her bag beside the door and dove into her chair. Shaking with excitement she rolled across the room and put her PET in it's dock. Nervously she opened the disc case. Carefully she popped the disc out and inspected it. It looked like any other disk she'd gotten from her dad. A little less excited, Keller slid the disk into the computer's disk drive.

"System administrator active, please enter password to proceed." Her standard Navi announced. Quickly Keller typed the password. "Password accepted, now loading files." The room was silent for a minute, "Download completed."

"M'kay, the core logic is in. Now let's see what this is all about." Keller said aloud to herself as she pressed the start button.

"Running new blayde configurations." The standard Navi announced as a bunch of numbers appeared on the screen of her PET. Suddenly the screen went black.

"Okay, that's not supposed to happen." Keller sighed as she pressed the Home button, a second later the screen came to life.

"Stage two of download starting. Estimated time, one minute." The navi announced as the screen became blurry. "Rebuffing. Partition defragmentation complete. Software update estimated completion, two hours. After the operation system update is complete, there will be a delay before it will be completely operational."

"How long?" Keller asked with a sigh.

"Estimated completion is four hours. Estimated total configuration completion is six hours."

"Six hours for a lousy software update!" Keller whined, "Are you sure that's all there is to it?"

"That's it." The Navi said simply.

"Another disappointment courtesy of dad." Keller sighed.

"So, what'd he send you?" Said a voice from behind her.

Keller spun around so fast she fell out of her chair and landed on her face. She heard whoever it was laughing their head off. With a grunt she pushed herself up off the floor and with one graceful move she whipped her hair back so she could see. Once on her feet and with her vision back to normal Keller realized it was her mom.

"Mom…how did you get in?" Keller asked as she fixed her hair and sat back down in her chair.

"You left your door wide open. Oh, and I heard you hit your door when you got up here."

"Oh…" Keller laughed.

"Well, what did your dad send you this time?" Her mother laughed.

"Another software update." Keller sighed in disappointment as she spun back around to face her computer screen where a loading screen blinked on and off.

"How long is going to take?" Her mom asked, casting a glance at her daughter's strangely clean room.

"Six hours until it's completely done! What kind of software update is this?" Keller whined.

"Come on, let's go watch The Vampire Diaries. It'll get your mind off of this software update, and you need to be brought back up to speed." Her mom suggested.

"Okay." Keller grumbled.

"I can't believe Stefan went back to being a ripper!" Keller said in shock two hours later, as she took a sip of tea.

"Maybe he never stopped being one."

"What about Elena? Do you think she'll listen to Caroline and stay away from Damon?"

"I don't think it's just the sire bond that's pulling Elena to Damon."

"Do you think it could be the fact that they met before, but Damon compelled her to forget and her becoming a vampire got rid of that?" Keller asked as they got up.

"I don't know." Her mother said as they made their way to the kitchen.

Keller was about to say something else when there was a knock at the door.

"I got it!" Keller said running back to the foyer. She opened the door and there stood Kyra. "Hey! Kyra! What are you doing here?"

"Did you forget? We agreed to go to the skate park so we could practice for the skate exhibition this weekend, remember?" Kyra said, her raven hair swirling in the breeze.

"Oh yeah! Let me just grab my board and we'll get going!" Keller said as she spun around and dashed up the stairs.

Less than a minute later she was out the door, Kyra trying to catch up.

"So what are you gonna do since you can't NetBattle for the rest of the day?" Kyra asked as she did a perfect ollie.

"Speaking of NetBattles, we've gotta meet up with Sam and Lyteman at Netopia Stadium, remember." Lark interrupted her NetOp.

"I totally forgot." Kyra laughed.

"Kyra you are such an airhead." Keller giggled.

"Says the one who's late to class every day and almost always forgets something." Kyra grinned.

"Blah, blah, blah." Keller grinned, "Don't you have a battle to get to?"

"Oh! Man!" Kyra looked at the time and groaned. "There's no way I'll make it on time no matter how fast I go."

"Sure you will, just follow me." Keller grinned as she started down the street.

"Where are we going?" Kyra asked.

"Don't worry about it, just follow my lead." Keller said as she wove through groups of pedestrians.

Without much effort Keller pushed the board as fast as it would go. She wove through the crowds easily, her deft fluid movements amazing the people she passed. Without warning she whipped around a corner and heard Kyra let out a curse as she struggled to keep up. Keller let out a wild whoop of triumph when she caught sight of the Bullet Train.

"Come on! Let's go!" Keller grinned grabbing Kyra by the hand and leading her onto one of the cars.

"The train. This was your great idea." Kyra sighed.

"Just wait." Keller said with a knowing smile as the train pulled out of the station.

"For what?" Kyra asked as the train raced through the city, turning their view outside into indistinguishable blurs.

"For this!" Keller said as the train slowed as it came into the next station.

Without warning Keller grabbed her skateboard and jumped off the still moving train car, her hair blowing out behind her as she landed on the platform. Kyra followed suit and the two took off down hill towards the stadium. Keller moved back and forth between the street and the sidewalk, easily dodging oncoming cars and pedestrians alike. She looked back and spotted Kyra doing the same thing.

"Are you sure we can make it?" Kyra asked as they came to a stop at a busy intersection, they were only half there.

"Sure. Just follow me." Keller said confidently as she took off across the intersection, ignoring the angry yells and honks from drivers.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" Kyra asked looking down at her PET to find Lark with a ready response.

"When is Keller ever wrong?"

"Fine," Kyra sighed and put her PET back in it's holder. "Let's go!"

With the Netopia Stadium in sight Keller and Kyra pushed themselves as fast as they could go. They whipped down the hill, through traffic and pedestrians, turning everything around them into nearly indistinguishable blurs and blobs of color. Just when it looked like they were going to hit the railing they jumped over it, landing back on their boards in perfect sync.

"For a second there I thought you two were gonna become pretty roadkill." Sam said as Keller came to a stop a few feet in front of him.

"Yeah right." Keller scoffed, "I'm the city's best skateboarder. A little jump like that is nothing."

"That's your opinion. In my case I was sure I was about to get turned into pretty roadkill." Kyra interjected.

"Chill out Kyra." Keller laughed as she shook her hair out of her helmet before putting it back on.

"Aren't you gonna stay and watch me kick Kyra's butt?" Sam asked with a flirty grin.

"Thanks for the invite, but I need to get a little training in." Keller said coolly as she flexed her fingers.

"Maybe next time?" Sam asked hopefully.

"Sure." Keller shrugged. Without another word she took off down the street towards the train station.

"You ought to know that she sort of can't stand you flirting with her." Kyra said as Keller disappeared.

"I'll win her over, just wait and see." Sam grinned as the two friends walked into the stadium. Kyra just rolled her eyes.

Keller hopped off the train and headed straight to the skate park. She wove through the other skaters that were milling about easily making all of them stare at her in amazement. It's a good thing they haven't recognized me yet. Keller thought as she jumped over some railing. Just when she thought she could clear it her foot got caught and she fell on her side landing on her arm. Keller pushed herself up and looked down at her arm. It was scraped up, but that seemed to be the extent of the damage.

"You all right?" A voiced asked.

Keller looked up and spotted a dark haired guy standing a few feet away from her. His face looked so familiar. An instant later it clicked. It was Dante Sparrow

"I'm fine." She said stiffly.

"You must be a newbie." The guy said coolly.

"Wrong." Keller answered icily. "The name's Keller. Keller Locklear."

"Oh, the third-rate skateboard champion." He replied with disdain.

Keller clenched her fist so tight her knuckles turned white.

"How dare you call me, the Trinity City skateboarding champion third-rate!" She said in an icy voice.

"Look, I'm not going to say I'm sorry for saying it. I just don't see how a girl as narcissistic as you is considered a champion role model by the entire city. Frankly, I don't see anything extraordinary about your skills. You're just like every other skateboarder out here."

"I'll show you extraordinary." Keller murmured.

She quickly stood up and grabbed her board. Shooting Dante a glare she jumped on her board and headed for the half pipe. She ran up to the top of the half pipe. She swooped down with ease pulling off a blind kick flip as she came up the other end of the pipe. While still in the air she managed turn switch stance and finish off with a McTwist for good measure. Without any more comments she kick flipped off the ramp and headed home.

Dante watched in silence as she raced off.

Keller sighed and flopped down on her bed, her hair still damp. She was exhausted after her dash across the city, and her mini exhibition for that jerk Dante. With a sigh she glanced at the software update's progress. She still had three hours to kill until it was done.

"Oh, well," she yawned. "I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what it is."

With another yawn she stretched out across her bed and fell asleep.


	2. Legends and Honor to Defend

"Keller." Called a voice. Keller stirred a little but remained asleep. "Keller." The voice called again. I must still be dreaming…Keller thought fuzzily as she tightened her hold on her pillow. "Seriously? I can't believe this…Keller Locklear! Wake up!"

"Ahh!" Keller screeched as she fell out of her bed. "Jeez, chill out with the yelling." She grumbled as she got up off the floor.

"Keller, over here. In your P.E.T," called the voice.

"What about my P.E.T?" Keller murmured as she sat up.

"Just look." The voice insisted.

With a yawn Keller got up and looked at her P.E.T. Her silver eyes grew wide as she looked at the black, and pink Navi standing in the center of the screen.

"Morning, Keller." The Pink Navi smiled.

"Who are you?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The Navi laughed her emerald green eyes laughing. "I'm Blayde."

"Blayde?" Keller echoed in confusion.

"The one and only!" Blayde grinned. "I'm your custom NetNavi programed by your dad, with a little help from your mom."

"My own custom NetNavi." Keller murmured as she got up and started changing.

"That's what I said, didn't I?" Blayde quipped.

"Hmm…" Keller murmured.

"Something wrong?" Blayde asked, tilting her head to the side a bit.

"No offense, but I thought you'd be… I dunno a little…taller and maybe look more threatening." Keller said as she walked over to her closet in search of a shirt.

"And?" Blayde prompted, knowing there was more to it.

"I want my old Navi back." Keller whined.

"Hey! I'm not the first short Navi in existence," Blayde quipped, as she moved to the other side of the screen her pink hair swaying behind her.

"I know." Keller said as she grabbed her shirt and pulled it on.

Once dressed Keller turned to get a full look at her Navi. Instantly she was reminded of, Megaman, Roll and Protoman. The Navis that worked with the NetSavers Lan Hikari, Maylu Sakurai, and Chaud Blaze. Keller's dad had obviously taken all three of the Navis' most striking, physical qualities and incorporated them into Blayde.

Blayde had a dark pink helmet with thick horizontal pale pink stripes like Megaman's, with pale pink hearts on either side that connected to transparent silver energy ribbons like Roll's and short black spikes on either side of the stripes like Protoman's with her long pink/white ponytail poking out. Her armor was dark pink, covering her chest, hips, lower thighs down to the tops of her dark pink and pale pink boots. She had a black bodysuit underneath which was visible from her shoulders to half of her upper arm, the lower half of her torso and her upper thighs. The silver ringed emblem on her chest was mostly dark pink with a two triangles diagonal to each other connected by a slim line of black, a black heart tipped arrow crossing it with a triangle at the top and streaks of pale pink at the edges. The bands of her gloves were pale pink where they started just above her elbows. Her hair was a champagne bronze and her eyes were a bright emerald green.

"I know you're not." Keller said as she quickly checked her normal outfit that consisted of a dark pink quarter sleeve top, a short black skirt with black spandex shorts underneath, dark grey stockings and a pair of pink flats. "Now come, on. We've gotta get to school." Keller said, slinging her backpack and guitar case over her shoulder and strapping her PET to her waist.

"You know you'll make it a lot faster if you cut across the park." Blayde said from her PET just as Keller ran down the stairs.

"Good point," Keller admitted as she grabbed her skateboard and dashed out the door.

In one swift motion she threw the board letting it roll down the driveway, just as it was about to go into the street she ran and jumped on it, turning it as she did. Then Keller easily maneuvered down the street and to the park.

"Now, that was awesome." Blayde said from her spot on Keller's hip.

"That was nothing." Keller laughed as she carved through a group of morning joggers with ease.

"Keller! Don't you think you should slow down?" Blayde asked as they raced across the park.

"We'll be fine! I know what to do." Keller said as she neared the gates of Trinity Middle School.

"Then I hope you figure our what to do before you crash."

"What are you talking about?" Keller asked.

"Why don't you look up ahead." Blayde suggested.

Keller looked up and saw that if she didn't do something quick she would crash into the fence. Doing what she knew best Keller waited until the last moment and jumped over the fence.

"Keller!" Blayde called to her NetOp.

"Chill out blade Blayde. We're okay." Keller said as she easily landed on the board on the other side of the fence. Some of the students stared at her in shock, she just grinned._ I'm not the Trinity City skateboard champion for nothing._ Keller thought as she maneuvered through the crowd across the courtyard.

"That was close." Blayde sighed.

"That was nothing." Keller laughed as she hopped off her board.

"It's a miracle that you made it to school alive."

"Oh, please…I could make it here blindfolded."

"Is that a good thing?" Blayde asked with a laugh.

"It all depends on who you ask." Keller laughed.

"Hey Keller!" Someone called from behind. Keller turned around to see Kyra running up to her.

"Hey Kyra." Keller grinned as she picked her skateboard up.

"You ready to get your butt handed to you when we NetBattle after school today?" Kyra asked with a grin.

"You're gonna be the one who's gonna get her butt handed to her." Keller grinned.

"We'll see about that." Kyra laughed as the bell rang.

"I'll see you at the arcade after school then!" Keller called out as she ran down the hall and up the stairs to her first class.

-"You ready to kick some butt, Blayde?" Keller asked her Navi as soon as the last bell rang.

"Let's show them what we've got!" Blayde cheered excitedly as Keller jumped on her board and carved through the crowds in the hall and raced out the door.

"I thought you weren't gonna show." Kyra said as Keller walked into the empty arcade. The place was empty aside from them. Apperently two famous NetBattlers were duking it out at the park and everyone had gone to watch.

"You're gonna be wishing I hadn't." Keller smirked as she pulled out her PET.

"We'll just see about that." Kyra grinned.

"Jack in, Blayde/Lark! Power up!" The two girls shouted at the same time, pointing their PETs at the panel on the mini arena.

The two girls watched as a cream colored light followed by a dark pink light crashed down to the floor of the cyber arena. The lights faded to reveal their Navis.

Lark had a cream colored helmet with gold wings on either side and gold stripes running vertically. Her armor was gold as well, and covered the upper part of her chest, shoulders, and knees. She had a cream colored bodysuit underneath which was visible from her shoulders to her elbows, the lower half of her torso and the lower part of her thighs. Her gloves and boots were gold, the boots having a short heel with angel wings attached. The gold ringed emblem on her chest was mostly white with a few streaks of cream and gold. Over her eyes there was a solid gold visor, and attached to her back was a pair of huge cream colored wings. The bit of hair that you could see sticking out of the back of her helmet was a soft fawn brown.

"That's your custom Navi!" Kyra cried out, looking at Blayde with an amused smirk, "You can't honestly expect to beat my with that little gnat!"

"She's not a gnat, she's Blayde, and we're gonna show you just how good we are." Keller spat back.

"I'm gonna tear you to shreds, pipsqueak." Lark sneered as she looked down at the pink haired Navi.

"Bring it on." Blayde smirked, her antennas pulsing with energy.

The words BATTLE START flashed.

"Start shredding her." Kyra said to her Navi nonchalantly.

"With pleasure." Lark smirked, "Lark Scream!" She let out a sharp screech that turned into a sonic boom.

"Cute." Blayde smirked, she blew a kiss that turned into a heart once in the palm of her hand. "Blayde Blast!"

She threw the heart, turning it into a sonic boom. The pink sound wave crashed into the gold one, canceling the attack out. Astonished and angry that her attach was blocked so easily Lark charged at the pink Navi. Blayde dodged cleanly and then swept Lark's feet out from under her.

"CyberSword Battle Chip in! Download."As Blayde's arm turned into the sword Keller smirked, "Start shredding, Blayde."

"Already done." Blayde smirked. She charged at Lark full speed.

"Not so fast, munchkin." Kyra smirked, "AreaSteal Battle Chip in! Download."

"DashCondor Battle Chip in! Download." Keller countered.

Blayde was already running at full speed so when the condor uploaded she became a pink blur. Before Lark could teleport anywhere else Blayde managed to get a good hit on her. Her sword slicing through one of Lark's wings.

"Awesome Blayde." Keller cheered.

"That was just a lucky shot. Let's see how you handle this. Invisi3 Battle Chip in! Download."

"Try and find me now, pipsqueak." Lark taunted as she disappeared.

"No problem, smoke her out Blayde. MiniBoomer1, MiniBoomer2, MiniBoomer3 Battle Chips in! Triple download."

"Come out, come out wherever you are." Blayde taunted as she threw the MiniBoomers, covering the area in smoke. "There you are." She grinned, spotting a figure a short distance to her right."

"CyberSword! Battle Chip in. Download." Keller said at the same time.

"Nice try Lark, but you can't get past me." Blayde smirked, easily slicing through the unsuspecting Navi.

"Lark, logging out." The computer announced.

"I'm impressed." Kyra grinned.

"I'm not." Said a nasally voice. The two girls turned to see Melody Wilkes standing in the door way. "Let me show you what a real NetBattler looks like. Jack in! Euryale, power up!"

A lavender light crashed down to the cyber floor. Euryale had a dark purple helmet with black snake like hair sticking out the back. Her armor was dark purple and she wore a grey cocktail dress with lavender leggings.

"I'd love to stick around and see this, but I've gotta go help my mom at the aquarium." Kyra said as she rushed off.

"Now that she's gone, let me show you what a true champion looks like." Euryale smirked.

"Bring it on." Blayde said as she took a fighting stance.

The words BATTLE START flashed for the second time.

"TorentialWave!" Euryale cried out, a wave of cyber water rising up and racing towards Bladye.

"BlaydeBlast!" The blast easily disintegrated the wave making tiny drops of water spray in every direction.

"Try this on for size. AquaTower Battle Chip in! Download." Melody smirked.

"AquaTower!" Euryale cried out, the tower of water materializing and heading straight for Blayde.

Blayde chuckled and shook her head. Using her speed she dodged the tower and headed straight for Euryale. When she was close enough she jumped up and flipped right over Euryale's head.

"BlaydeFlash!" Blayde grinned, her antenna's whipping forward and hitting Euryale repeatedly.

"AH!" Euryale screeched as she was hit with shock after shock of electricity from Blayde's antenna.

"Finish her off Blayde! ElecSword-"

"Keller! We have an emergency!" A voice interrupted. The Navi's froze as a golden beam of light crashed to the ground. Lark materialized an instant later, her wings fluttering as she wrung her hands with worry.

"Lark! What's wrong?" Blayde and Keller asked at the same time.

"All the tanks in the aquarium are overflowing, the place is filling with water! I'm trying to fight off the viruses, but I can't get to Kyra. I need your help."

"We're on our way." She turned to Blayde, "Blayde you go on ahead. I'll catch up." Keller ordered her Navi.

"On my way right now." Blayde said as she streamed out.

"We'll finish this later." Keller shot a look at Melody before she raced off to the aquarium.

Once Keller was gone Melody smirked and looked at her Navi.

"How's that idiot BubbleMan doing with his assignment? " She laughed darkly.

"The aquarium will be completely flooded in about ten minutes." Euryale said coolly.

"What about Kyra?"

"According to BubbleMan she's trapped in the salt water tank and her oxygen tank is running low. We'll have her out of our way in no time."

"Good. and will be happy to hear this. Once we have that pathetic excuse for a NetAgent out of our way we can focus on getting rid of those pathetic Darkloids. With them out of the way we can take over and bend the city to our will." Melody laughed.

"I didn't expect a little tyke tike you to follow through with the plan so easily." Said a voice from the shadows.

"It was easy. I just gave BubbleMan Euryale's passcode to the system fire wall and told him to do whatever he felt was necessary." Melody explained as emerged from the shadows.

"You've done a good job so far Melody. I expect you to keep it up." She said as she made her way to the doors then stopped. "Oh. I almost forgot to give you this." She casually tossed a black chip at the girl.

"A DarkSynchroChip?" Melody said in surprise.

"You've earned it, and I have a feeling you're going to need it soon." The woman explained, and with those words she was gone.

"Euryale, lock the aquarium system down. I don't want anyone getting in or out." Melody said coolly as she left the empty arcade.


	3. A Bubbly Plan Foiled

Meanwhile, somewhere in the aquarium's water flow system. A shadowed figure of a short stocky Navi was seen pacing back and forth in anger.

"Drat! I wanted revenge on MegaMan, but BurnerMan has to be the one that get's all the glory," The Navi said, stamping it's foot in anger. "Oh, well, at least I get to release bubbly chaos, and there's no way MegaMan is ruining my plans this time. DenTech City may not be mine, but Trinity City will be!" It continued…

When Blayde arrived in the aquarium's system she was beyond shocked. There were all sorts of water viruses everywhere she looked. It was almost like someone was turning the aquarium's system into the aquarium itself.

"Blayde! Look out!" Lark cried out.

Blayde spun around and spotted a swarm of piranha viruses coming straight at her.

"BlaydeBlast!" She shouted a sonic boom deleting them instantly. "There's so many of them." Blayde gasped as she looked out at wave after wave of viruses.

"And there's even more of them in the water." Lark said as she released a series of sonic booms.

"Great. How are we supposed to get rid of all of them?" Blayde asked as she released more sonic booms.

"We just have to hold out until Keller get's here." Lark said as she sliced through more viruses.

"We can do that. Where's Kyra?" Blayde asked as she dodged a bite from a shark virus.

"She's trapped in the salt water tank and her oxygen tank is already half empty."

"Head back that way and see if you can get that part of the drainage system to open. I can handle this." Blayde ordered.

"Look out!" Lark cried in warning.

Blayde whirled around and saw a huge shark virus. Just as quickly as she saw it, it was deleted. She looked to her left and saw Lark smirking, a golden feather in her hand.

"Phew. Thanks Lark." Blayde said as she sliced through another group of viruses.

"No problem." Lark grunted as she hit a Jellyfish Virus with a screech. "Now are you sure you can handle all of these?"

"Yes! Don't worry about me. Just go help Kyra!" Blayde ordered as she shot blast after blast at the swarms of viruses.

"Okay." Lark said before disappearing through one of the system's links.

"I hope Keller get's here quick." Blayde murmured to herself as she fired another BlaydeBlast, "I don't know how much longer I can hold them off."

When Keller reached the main entrance of the aquarium she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Water, a lot of screaming and panicking people were flooding out of the building and from the looks of it so were the occupants of the tanks. Quickly she ran up to one of the workers who had just run out of the main building.

"Misty, what happened?"

"Something went wrong with the water flow system, the whole place is flooding with water, and Kyra's trapped in one of the salt water tanks. I tried using the manual override to unlock the doors and start the drainage system but I just can't get through. I think someone hacked into the system and locked us out." The red head explained.

"I'll handle this. Thanks. Misty." Keller said quickly before running towards the main building.

"Keller." Misty called after her.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful, at this rate the entire building will be flooded in about ten minutes." Misty warned.

"Don't worry about me. You just make sure everyone else is okay." Keller called over her shoulder as she continued to push her way through the crowd of people.

"Keller!" Called a voice from her PET. She looked down expecting to see Blayde, but was surprised to find Lark, a worried expression on the Navi's face.

"Lark, what's the matter?" Keller asked.

"It's Kyra, the aquarium's system went into automatic lock down and she's locked in one of the salt water tanks."

"I know. I'm on my way there." The brunette paused, "Where's Blayde?"

"She's fighting the viruses." The gold Navi replied.

"Get back to Kyra and make sure she stays calm. I'm on my way there." Keller said as she started scaling up a ladder at the side of the building.

"What do you mean you're on your way there? What are you doing?" Lark asked in a rush.

"Don't worry about it. Just get back to Kyra." Keller said seriously. She pulled herself up the last bit of the ladder and sprinted across the roof to the main air duct.

"Warning." Her PET beeped showing Blayde's defense status at less than ten percent.

"Oh Man! I need to get some BattleChips to Blayde fast." Keller growled as she kicked the vent covering the air duct in frustration.

To her surprise the cover came off. Without any hesitation Keller crawled into the vent and followed the clear stench of salt water that floated through the air. The farther along she crawled the stronger the smell got. She looked down, she was right above the salt water tank, and just like Lark had said there was Kyra, the protective plexiglass covering at the top of the tank sealing her in. With a grunt Keller kicked the vent cover sending it crashing down onto the plexiglass below.

"I need a place to jack in." Keller said to herself.

Then she spotted it. A panel on the tank's water flow meter. With a grin she pointed the infrared beam at the panel instantly a view of Blayde appeared on the screen, the stripes on her helmet pulsing softly, meaning she was connected.

"What've we got?" Keller asked as Blayde landed on the ground.

"So far we've got Fishey, Piranha, Shark and JellyFish Viruses, and a bunch of exploding bubbles." Blayde said as she whipped off another bunch of viruses with a BlaydeFlash.

"Exploding bubbles?" Keller asked in confusion.

"Yeah. I have no idea where they're coming from." Blayde grunted as she dodged the explosion produced by a bubble.

"I have a feeling that if you follow the bubbles you'll find whoever's responsible for all this." Keller grunted as she dropped down on the ground a few feet away from the edge of the tank.

"If I'm gonna do that I'm gonna need something besides a BlaydeBlast to get through all of these viruses." The pink haired Navi replied as she deleted another bunch of Piranha Viruses.

"Got you covered. ElectroSword1, ElectroSword2, Dash Condor. Battle Chips in. Triple Download."

"Sweet!" Blayde grinned as she sliced through the swarms of viruses and a barrage of exploding bubbles with ease.

"Anything yet?" Keller asked her Navi as she tried to get her friend's attention.

"Not yet." Blayde said softly as she sliced through another barrage of bubbles and jumped off the condor she'd been using. "Wait a second I think I've got our culprit." Silently she landed in front of a short and stocky figure. "So, you're the one that's doing all of this! Who are you?" She yelled out.

"The name's BubbleMan, blub. Blub." The stout blue Navi replied.

"Well, that explains the bubbles, but why are you doing this?" Blayde demanded.

"Why to rule the city of course!" BubbleMan cackled, "Now get out of my way!"

To Blayde's surprise she was hit with a harpoon. Keller let out a short scream as she watched Blayde take the hit directly in her chest and slide across the cyber floor.

"Blayde are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just didn't expect that." Blayde said as she stood up.

"Drat. Drat. Drat. I thought I had you good. Blub, blub, you're even more annoying than MegaMan" BubbleMan fumed. "Oh, well. I guess you need another shot to meet your bubbly end."

Again BubbleMan shot a harpoon at Blayde. _This guy really needs a new trick._ Blayde thought as she jumped out of the harpoon's path.

"Take this!" Blayde smirked, "BlaydeBlast!"

BubbleMan countered with another harpoon. He easily negated the blast and then sent out another harpoon. With a grunt Blayde dodged it and stood back up.

"Blayde, you know what to do." Keller said simply.

"Blayde Flash!" She shouted, her antenna whipping out and hitting BubbleMan with brute force.

"Taste this! Bubble Parade!"

Blade watched as BubbleMan shot bubble after bubble at her. She let the bubbles surround her the perfect plan already playing out.

"Blayde what are you doing?" Keller murmured, her voice tinged with worry.

"Ah, ha ha ha! There's no way you're getting out of that in one piece you pink brat! Blub, blub!" BubbleMan cackled as he started dancing around.

Suddenly there was a boom followed by a flash of light. Pixels and data bits flew in every direction making it hard to see. Blayde used that opportunity to jump to another spot.

"Blayde?" Keller called worriedly. No answer.

"Bye, bye Blayde!" BubbleMan cackled.

"Think again BubbleMan." Blayde said as the light and data from the explosion faded.

"But how did you escape my beautiful bubbles? Blub?" He stuttered in panic.

"I'm a whole lot faster than you think." Blayde smirked throwing a BlaydeBlast in his direction.

"All right! Let's finish him off Blayde!" Keller smirked, "ElecBlade Battle Chip in! Download."

In one swift motion Blayde sliced through BubbleMan.

"I'll be back! Blub." He yelled before logging out.

"Who was that guy?" Keller wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but whoever he is he's gone now." Blayde sighed as she deleted the last of the viruses. A moment later the aquarium's system returned to normal.

"Blayde, can you open the tank and stop the water flow?"

"All ready on it." The pink haired Navi replied.

As soon as the plexiglass cover slid back Keller dropped her PET and dove in to get her friend. She found Kyra a few yards away her eyes wide. Without any hesitation Kyra took her friend's hand and the two resurfaced a little later.

"That was a close one." Kyra gasped as she pulled herself up out of the tank.

"Yeah." Keller panted, "You okay."

"Mhmm. Thanks to you that is."

"What are best friends for?" Keller grinned.

"True." Kyra laughed. "Lark?"

"Yeah?" The gold Navi answered her NetOp.

"I want you to activate the drainage system and reboot any of the fish that got flushed out of their tanks." Kyra sighed.

"I'm on it." Lark nodded.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" Keller asked worriedly.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Kyra laughed, "You can go ahead and go. Don't worry about me and Lark, we'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Keller asked for the third time.

"Yes! Now let me and Lark handle this." Kyra laughed.

"Fine." Keller sighed as she opened the door.

"Go!" Kyra laughed throwing a starfish at her friend.

"Okay! I'm going. I'm going." Keller laughed as she took off down the hall.

"If you slip and fall I'm gonna laugh at you." Blayde said to her NetOp as she ran down the hall, her shoes squeaking every time she stepped on a wet spot.

"That's not gonna happen." Keller smirked as she walked across the break room and into the main entrance.

"This place sure took a beating." Blayde said softly.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Keller said as she kicked a jellyfish aside, "It's a good thing all of these are robotic."

"Yeah." Blayde agreed as Keller went to open the doors only to find it locked.

"Blayde, can you unlock the door?"

"I've got you covered." Lark interrupted, the doors sliding open.

"Thanks Lark." Keller and Blayde said simultaneously.

"No problem!" Lark called after them as they left.

Keller stepped out of the aquarium and instantly shielded her eyes.

"You did it Blayde." Keller smiled looking down at her Navi.

"Oh, come on. It wasn't all me. You were the one who came up with the moves." Blayde laughed sheepishly.

"So, you'll always be here to help me?" Keller said softly, her thoughts still on BubbleMan she made her way over to the side of the building where she'd left her skateboard and sunglasses.

"Of course. I'm your Navi. All you've gotta do is ask." Blayde laughed. Blayde, noticing her NetOp's silence decided to speak again. "Something wrong Keller?" Blayde asked, making the brunette start.

"I was just thinking about that Navi, BubbleMan. Did you happen to hear his NetOp or anything?" Keller asked as she put on her sunglasses.

"He didn't have a NetOp," Blayde paused. "He was a solo NetNavi."

"That's strange. I mean I know solo NetNavi's exist, but I don't get it…Why would a solo NetNavi want to flood the aquarium?" Keller murmured as she started down the street to her house.

"Beats me, though he did say something about ruling the city and me being more annoying than MegaMan."

"MegaMan huh? I guess that means our little buddy BubbleMan is a Darkloid…but why would he come to Trinity city?" Keller mused.

"I don't know the answer to that." Blayde shrugged. "What I do know is that you missed your guitar lesson, and when your mom finds out she's gonna be steamed."

"Oh Man!" Keller groaned, "I just remembered I have math homework that I need to finish!"

"Jee. I wish I could help, but you won't learn anything if I do your homework for you."

"If I find out you've been talking to my mom-" Keller started.

"Well, she's right."

"Who's side are you on!" Keller glared at her Navi angrily, "Just remember you can be reprogramed."

"You wouldn't know where to start." Blayde smirked.

"Challenge accepted." Keller smirked…


	4. The Heat of Rivalry

"And this late fall heat wave continues it's merciless onslaught on the city with temperatures for this time of year reaching an all time high. Experts say that they're unsure of when this unexpected and unprecedented heat wave will end. In the mean time the city health council is advising TrinityCity citizens to stay hydrated and remain inside during peak hours." The news reporter announced.

"Oh! Man! Tyler and I were gonna go to Brandon's and work on our new hide out. This just ruined everything, mom'll never let me go outside!" John groaned.

"Get used to it. Kyra and I had big plans for the day, but this health advisory ruins everything." Keller sighed and flicked off the TV.

"So much for spending all day at the skate park huh?" Blayde asked.

"Yeah. It looks like we're gonna have to find something else to do today." Keller sighed again as she stood up and stretched.

"You could always NetBattle me and TeraGuy!" John interrupted.

"Yeah! Let's see if Blayde can handle my awesomeness." TeraGuy added.

"What do you think Blayde?" Keller looked at her Navi, "You wanna see if my brother's as good as he claims?"

"Sure, why not." Blayde shrugged.

"All right! Let's go down to the game room then." John said eagerly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! If you're gonna NetBattle me we're going to do it at the Coliseum in NetHaven." Keler grinned

"Fine, we'll jack in from here." John shrugged, lazily gesturing to the panel on the TV.

Keller nodded and flicked the TV back on. After a moment she pulled out the keyboard and logged into the NetHaven server.

"Jack in! Blayde! Power up." Keller grinned.

"Jack in! TeraGuy! Power up!" John said, following his sister's lead.

Once in the city the two Navis looked at each other and smiled. TeraGuy was the most human looking Navi Blayde had met. He didn't have any armor, wearing dark blue overalls and a red shirt with a pair of sturdy brown boots and white gloves. In place of a helmet he had a red hat and what looked like headphones over his ears. With a nod the 'sibling' Navis headed for the Coliseum.

"Just because you're my sister's Navi, don't think TeraGuy and I are gonna go easy on you." John said to Blayde about five minutes later. The two Navis stood on opposite sides of the stadium, the crowd watching excitedly.

"I wouldn't dream of it!" Blayde smiled, as the words BATTLE START flashed across the huge video screen.

"FireBall!" TeraGuy grinned launching a huge fireball at Blayde.

"AquaShot! BattleChip in! Download!" Keller grinned.

"Too easy!" Blayde grinned as she fired the shot at the fireball.

The two attacks negated, leaving behind a blur of pixels. Using the explosion as cover Blayde decided to use the element of surprise.

"Hey! Where'd she go?" John and TeraGuy said in unison as the pixels cleared.

"Looking for someone?" Blayde grinned as she free fell, "BlaydeBlast!"

The blast hit TeraGuy full force sending him sliding back across the stage a good distance. Blayde landed on the ground a smirk on her face.

"Don't get too confident just yet sis! FireSword. Tornado. BattleChips in. Download!"

TeraGuy was instantly engulfed by the tornado. Blayde watched with mild interest as the tornado moved towards her.

"Ready?" Keller asked her Navi.

"Ready." Blayde said simply.

"AquaSword. DashAttack. BattleChips in. Download." Keller grinned.

"Let's finish this." Blayde said, as a dark pink mouth guard formed along with the sword.

She took one step forward and was instantly moving full speed towards TeraGuy, who was still engulfed by the tornado. He didn't even see her attack coming. With one clean swipe he was down.

"TeraGuy, logging out." The computer announced.

"So much for being too awesome for us huh?" Blayde and Keller said in unison.

"Okay, you guys win." John admitted, "You okay TeraGuy?"

"I'm good." TeraGuy replied.

"You know what's creepy is that you and Blayde are starting to talk almost in perfect sync." John shook his head.

"Whatever," Keller dismissed her brother with a casual wave of her hand.

"You wanna battle again or what?" John asked eagerly.

"Nah. I think I'm gonna head out to the arcade and see if anything interesting's going on. You wanna come?" Keller asked.

"Nah. TeraGuy and I are gonna keep training." John said.

"Suit yourself." Keller shrugged as she logged Blayde out, "Just let mom know I'm at the arcade so she doesn't freak."

"All right. See ya later sis."

"See ya." Keller said as she made her way to the foyer.

"Why don't we got to the arcade jack into NetHaven from there and go back to the Coliseum?" Blayde suggested, her eyes gleaming.

"You should know that at this point that hardly any of those, so called NetBattlers are a real challenge. But if you insist." Keller grinned, strapping her BattleChip case to her thigh, "Let's go!"

"Yes! Time for some NetBattling!" Blayde practically squealed with excitement.

"Sometimes I think mom or dad messed up on your programing somewhere along the line. I've never seen you so excited to beat up on a bunch of poor Navis, that will never know who or what hit them." Keller laughed as she put her PET in the holder while she grabbed her skateboard and headed out the door.

"A chance to NetBattle always get's me excited. Who knows, maybe this time we'll actually come across a few worthy challengers." Blayde said from her spot on Keller's hip.

"Keller, why are we stopping. I thought you said we were going to the arcade." Blayde said in confusion as her NetOp stopped at an ice cream parlor a few blocks away from the arcade.

"It's hot, and I want something sweet." Keller shrugged as she grabbed a small container and moved to where the frozen yogurt dispensers were.

"I will never understand your obsession with frozen yogurt."Blayde sighed.

"That's because Navis don't eat." Keller sighed as she filled the container and then moved on to the toppings.

"What is that? Cherries? And chocolate? What kind of combination is that?"

"Something so awesome you wouldn't understand." Keller said as she set the container on the scale and handed the cashier some cash.

"I don't think I want to." Blayde murmured.

"Oh, be quiet you." Keller laughed and jumped on her skateboard, "Let's get to the arcade, we've got some NetBattles to win."

"Woo!" Blayde whooped with a laugh.

Five scorching minutes later Keller and Blayde arrived at the arcade. The place was swarmed with kids Keller's age, teenagers and even a few adults. All of theme were crowded around the small arena dome in the center of the arcade.

"What's going on?" Keller asked a red haired girl beside her.

"There's this mysterious guy NetBattling anyone who challenges him. He's amazing! He's gotten twenty straight wins in the past five minutes."

"That's impossible." Blayde and Keller said together. Just then an eerily familiar voice rang out above the admiring murmurs of the crowd.

"Okay. Anyone else brave enough to challenge me?"

"What do you say Blayde? You up for this?" Keller asked her Navi.

"Bring it on!" Blayde smirked.

"I challenge you!" Keller said loudly as she stepped through the crowd, her head held high. She heard a few people whisper her name in shock as she casually walked over to the dome.

"Well, if it isn't the famous Keller Locklear." The guy smirked.

"Jack in! Blayde, power up!" Keller grinned, "Let's see what you've got."

"Jack in! RayzerMan, power up!" The guy grinned.

Keller froze. She knew exactly who RayzerMan's NetOp was. It was none other than her eternal skateboarding rival. Dante Sparrow.

"Well, if it isn't TrinityCity's _second _best skateboarder, Dante Sparrow. I should have known it was you." Keller said, her voice icy. The crowd around them started murmuring and taking out cameras. Apparently this NetBattle was going to be streamed live across the city. _Good, everyone in the city will watch me kick Dante's butt._ Keller smirked.

"That's right it's me Locklear. And to be honest I was hoping you'd show up. I was looking for a good challenge." Dante smirked, dropping his hoddie back to reveal his face.

"Are we gonna stand here and chat or are we going to NetBattle?" Blayde asked impatiently.

"So you're the famous Blayde." The dark red Navi standing opposite Blayde said coolly as he looked at the small pink Navi.

"The one and only." Blayde said with a smirk as she studied RazyerMan.

He had a black body suit with silver stripes running down his sides. He had silver shoulder guards and dark red armor. His helmet was dark red, with a silver horizontal stripe with bright red vertical ridge like stripes. Peeking out the back of his helmet was pitch black hair. The silver ringed emblem on his chest was black with red flame like streaks reaching from the bottom up flecked with silver.

"They say you have quite the reputation as a merciless NetBattler. I find it very hard to believe that such a little thing like you would be able to do much damage." RayzerMan smirked.

"Why don't I show you what I can do?" Blayde smirked as the words BATTLE START flashed.

"RayzerBlaster!" RayzerMan cried out, aiming the shot directly at Blayde's chest. At the last second Blayde jumped. The spot where she stood exploded in a barrage of smoke and pixels.

"So much for being a challenge." Dante scoffed. Keller just smiled in response.

"BlaydeBlast!" Blayde cried out, launching a sonic boom at RayzerMan. The boom hit him in the chest, sending him sliding across the cyber floor.

"Not bad," RayzerMan admitted as he got to his feet.

"Let's see how you handle this!" Dante smirked, "FireTower! BattleChip in. Download."

"Easy." Blayde and Keller said together as the tower of flames rose up from the ground and raced towards Blayde.

"AquaSword. AreaSteal. BattleChips in. Download!" Keller grinned.

"Good call Keller." Blayde smiled as her right arm turned into the blue sword.

With ease she sliced through the column of fire, the sword releasing a torrent of water. Using the AreaSteal she teleported to a position right behind RayzerMan. Just as she was about to land the winning blow he whirled around and deflected her AquaSword with a FireSword. The force of his hit made her sword shatter. Blayde growled and jumped back just in time to dodge another blow.

"Keller, now would be a good time to send me a BattleChip!" Blayde said as she flipped back to dodge another one of RayzerMan's swipes.

"Don't worry, I've got just what you need…CyberSword. BattleChips in! Double download. Cyclone. BattleChip in! Download." Keller grinned, watching as Blayde's arms became the glowing blue swords.

"So that's your master plan! All right then…CyberSword. BattleChips in! Double download. Tornado. BattleChip in! Download!"

Everyone watched in a tense silence as the two Navis charged at each other, the cyclones falling apart after the first impact. Blayde and RayzerMan circled each other at full speed, becoming nothing more than indistinct blurs to their NetOps. They slowed down as they started circling each other, the crowd in the arcade watching the battle closely.

"Come on Blayde! I know you can do this." Keller encouraged.

Blayde grinned at Keller's encouraging words and took a swipe at RazyzerMan's feet with the flat of her sword. He landed hard on his back.

"I've got you covered RayzerMan." Dante said just as Blayde was about to go for the final blow, "Barrier. BattleChip in! Download."

"Nice try pipsqueak." RayzerMan taunted as he pulled up the barrier an instant before Blayde hit him.

"All right Blayde, this is our one shot. What do you say?" Keller asked, worrying her lower lip with her teeth.

"Let's go for it." Blayde said as she got rid of both swords, leaving her defenseless against RayzerMan.

"All right. Here we go." Keller said grimly. "CyberSword, WideSword. BattleChips in. Download."

_So they're going for a ProgramAdvance? _Dante thought to himself. _Okay we can do that too._

"You ready RayzorMan?"

"I'm always ready," he smirked.

"CyberSword, WideSword Battle Chips in. Download." Dante looked up and smirked at Keller. She glared at him in response.

"LongSword BattleChip in! And Dow-"

Just as the two were about to download the battle chips the fire alarm in the arcade went off. A moment later the sprinklers went off as well. The two Navis stopped what they were doing and turned to their NetOps.

"They're going off all down the block!" A girl said from the door.


End file.
